Release Your Own Record: Part Two

Releasing your own record can be done and done successfully! In the prior article, four tips were discussed on how to do just this; investors, group contracts, work for hire and a budget for advertising, distribution and promotion.

Let's discuss some more crucial steps to take in releasing your own record without dealing with major labels and their recording contracts, music contracts and various music business contracts.

1. Don't get me wrong, even though you are running the show, music business contracts will still be involved, in fact, they must be! To release a record you will need a producer at some point, that's a given. These producers, especially if they is an outsiders, need to sign music business contracts of some sort. In this you need to determine how cost is handled, if advances will be paid to the producer and if royalties are to be paid. Get this done ahead of time so there is not confusion in he future!

2. Whether you are using cover songs or your own songs, you need to make sure the copyright info is correct for every single song. If you use any songwriters or publishers, the credits for those people need to be properly displayed as well.

3. As I mentioned above, there are music business contracts that involve producers. In these music business contracts, it needs to plainly state how the producer's credits will be displayed on the album. In addition to this, if you are doing any duets or recording with signed artists, then you need to ensure their names are mentioned along side a "Courtesy Of" and the name of their label.

4. Are you aware of ASCAP or BMI? Some artist affiliate themselves with these companies so when their original songs are played, they can be monitored and essentially protected.

5. Have you thought about obtaining bar codes for your CD's? Your distribution company may already provide this service, but if not, make sure you ask for it. Make sure this bar code is original and printed on your CD cover.

6. Copyrighting is really a no-brainer. As soon as you record your own songs or produce your own albums, you need to file the proper copyright forms such as Form SR, Form PA and Form VA. Go to the Copyright's website and print the forms and mail them in! The protection is as simple as that.

You are right, releasing your own album can be stressful but it is a great way to ensure everything is done to your standards. Many artists do it and so can you if you so desire. And I hope the above tips help you along the way!

About Author:
Ty Cohen is the owner of Platinum Millennium publishing, former record label owner & national music industry seminar speaker/panelist. Author/creator of best-selling music biz books, courses, audio products & "How to" resources that helped 1000s. Go to http://www.order-yours-now.com for more info on music contacts, recording contracts & music business contracts.

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Proven Ways To Protect Your Hit Song

Tin pan alley possesses a standard bugaboo for all new songwriters. This is the always-current rumor that publishers, professional songwriters, bandleaders - in fact, anyone and everyone in the music business - is intent upon stealing the ideas of new songwriters. Many new writers are hesitant about sending songs to publishers for this very reason. They are positive that if they allow the song out of their hands before the publishing contract is signed, they will find that the publisher has "copied" the number and stolen their idea. This may seem far-fetched, but it does happen.

The publisher takes every possible precaution before accepting a song for publication to insure that the song is not an infringement upon some other published number. He is usually able to spot an obvious infringement but if it should slip by his notice he knows that it will undoubtedly be picked up by the arrangers on his staff. Sometimes, despite all precautions, the infringement will pass unnoticed and the publisher is faced with an infringement suit. But such instances are extremely rare, particularly when one considers the tremendous number of songs of all types that are published every year.

Both the songwriter and the publisher are protected by law against infringement. Since the main charge in an infringement suit is that one song has been stolen from another, it is plain that both parties must be able to prove when the respective songs were written. The party that can show that his song was created before the other stands a good chance of winning the case. This date of creation can be established by several methods:

1. Take the manuscript before a notary public and have him witness your signature and affix the notary seal to the sheet of music.

2. Put the manuscript in an envelope. Seal the envelope and then mail it to yourself. The post mark will establish the date.

3. Keep the manuscript in the sealed envelope until it should be needed in an infringement case. The envelope should be opened only in court.

4. Secure some reliable and unprejudiced witnesses who can attest to hearing or seeing the number on a particular date.

5. Secure a U. S. Copyright registration.

The last method is, by far, the most satisfactory. Copyright registration simply means that the song has been officially registered as of a certain date, therefore becoming a matter of record.

Although the songwriter is entitled to exclusive rights to his composition, under common law, he must prove, beyond a question of doubt that he had created the song on a particular date. This might be established by the methods suggested above, but these methods are, to a great extent, makeshift, and do not provide definite proof offered by an official copyright card.

Furthermore, if a case is being tried on the basis of common law copyright, minimum damages are not established and must be determined by the court. For these reasons alone, it is preferable to secure an official copyright for the song.

The procedure is quite simple. The songwriter merely has to write to the Registrar of Copyrights, Washington, D. C, and ask for some application cards for unpublished musical compositions. These cards are sent free of charge. One card is required for each song to be copyrighted. The songwriter fills out the card which provides space for the names of lyric writers and composer, residence, name of song, date, etc.

The filled-in card is then returned to "Washington together with a copy of the manuscript and the required fee of one dollar." Within a short time, the songwriter receives an official registration card attesting that the song had been duly registered as of a certain date. This card should be placed away carefully by the songwriter for it provides concrete evidence that his song had been witnessed on a particular date.

If the above procedures are followed, you precious song should be protected from any unscrupulous person intent on stealing your hard work!

About Author:
Jimmy Cox - Long Lost Manuscript Resurfaces With The Underground Secrets On How To Write A Hit Song And Collect All The Royalties! Click Here For Free Online Ebook http://www.howtowriteahitsong.net/

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When Does Copyright Expire On My Music?

The expiration date on your copyrighted music isn't something you have to worry about, at least not in your lifetime. The music that you've written is copyrighted the moment you've put it onto paper or recorded it. The reason you don't have to worry about expiration is because the music is protected until 70 years after the death of the author. In the case of your music, that author would be you.

This rule about copyright music expiration was first put into place so that the families and heirs of an author could still earn royalties even after his or her death. Ultimately this means that if you've taken the steps to copyright your music and have registered the copyright, then your music will be protected throughout your lifetime until 70 years after you or the last surviving author (assuming a collaboration) is deceased.

Copyright music expiration is not something you should make a primary concern unless you are having issues of someone respecting and/or honoring your copyright at the moment. You should take comfort in the fact that as long as you are alive you are the only one who can assign your copyright to another person; and as long as you haven't given up your ownership of the music it still belongs to you.

This is different, however, if your copyrighted music was work “made for hire.” If that is the case then you cannot have ownership of the music, as it never legally belonged to you, but the person or entity who hired you to produce the music. Works made for hire have different copyright music expiration than those owned by the creator. With works made for hire, the copyrights are in effect for 95 years from the original publication date or for 120 years from the creation of the work, whichever of the two is shorter.

About Author:
Richard Cunningham is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for www.ResearchCopyright.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Get Ya' Money Right: The Truth About Publishing

What up Playa? By now you should be getting the big picture. There ain't no business like show business. But here's the problem, you keep putting on the show, but you ain't handling the business. If you are like many of the young artist coming-up in the game, you probably don't have a strong grasp on the Music Industries many rules and regulations. You might have read an article here or there, or even picked up a book or two about the music business, but chances are that unless you're a lawyer you probably didn't understand it. Relax, I got your back. Look at me as sort of your music business guardian angel, here to help you add a little business to your show.

Let's face it, the music business is a well-oiled machine designed to do one thing, and that is make money. Throughout your career you will notice that at every corner you turn there is someone who is waiting to benefit from your talent and success. Regardless to how large you may become, you will never be able to completely eliminate the middleman. Go ahead and screw up your face if you want, but if you think you can cross out the middleman then you need to close your eyes and go back to La-La-Land, 'cause homie your still dreaming. Even when you become a Hip Hop mogul like Russell Simmons or P-Diddy, you still have to answer to someone else, and they are usually making more money then you are. Alright, here is where I will stop myself because I am known for going off on a tangent about the many, many economic inequalities of the music business. So with no further delay, let's talk about getting paid.

Get Your Money Right

Now that we have established other people are going to be making money off of your talents, lets focus on how you can begin to get your beak wet too. During the week I get a million and one emails with questions about the music business. The one question that comes up the most is, "what is Publishing and what does it have to do with me?" Publishing is quite a difficult topic; so I will explain it as simple as humanly possible. Sit down class and pay attention.

Publishing is money earned from the songs that you have written. This money comes from two separates sources.

Source #1: Mechanical Royalties - This is the money that record companies pay to the publisher for songs that have been mechanically recorded (pressed-up) on record or CD.

Source #2: Public Performance Income - Better known as performing rights, this allows others to use your music in different mediums such as; radio, t.v., movies, etc.

Pump the brakes, Playa! Your not entitled to all of the money, just a portion of it. Let me explain. All money made from music publishing is simple known as Publishing Royalties. Publishing royalties are broken down into two separate shares; publishers share and writers share. Think of the shares as a pie with two halves; the publishers side represents 50% of the pie and the writers share represents 50% of the pie, and together they represent 100% of Music Publishing Income.

The publisher is the party that collects both shares and then pays the writer's share to the writer or writers of the song. The Publisher is the one who owns or controls the copyright of the song. This means that they have the rights to do with it as they please, such as licensing(renting) it out for movies, or sheet music. Also, granting permission to other singers to re-record it. At some point, you as a songwriter are going to have to deal with a Publisher on some level, whether you decide to self-publish or not. The main advantage to self-publishing is that your are the sole controller of your copyrights, but unless you have the time, energy, and resources to do what a publisher does, you better learn to play "Let's Make A Deal."

What a Publisher can do for you the Songwriter:

• Copyright your songs so your butt is covered around the world.


• Make sure your songs are used in every imaginable medium, such as: radio, video games, downloadable ring-tones, movies, etc.
  
• Hook up manufacturing and distribution deals for music books and sheet music of your songs.


• Register your songs with collections agencies like BMI, ASCAP, SEASAC, and the Harry Fox Agency.


• Protect you from copyright infringers trying to steal your material by sampling, file-sharing, and bootlegging.


• Develop and promote you as a writer.


• Negotiating licensing deals on your behalf

Your best bet is to set-up a co-publishing agreement with a large publisher; this way you will ensure that things will be done correctly, without you losing your mind in the process. There are far too many types of publishing agreements to get into detail, but you have to always agree to the deal you can live with. Think long-term and your money will grow, think short-term and the next song you write may be one for Food Stamps.

About Author:
Sahpreem A. King is a Multi-Platinum record producer, and book author of Gotta Get Signed: How to Become a Hip Hop Producer", available on Schirmer Trade Books.

sahpreemking@yahoo.com

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